Finishing and glossing the surfaces of fabrics having a coating of some pyroxyline



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JARVIS B. EDSON, OF ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS.

FINISHING AND GLOSSING THE SURFACES 0F FABRICS HAVING A COATING OF SOME PYROXYLINE COMPOUND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 297,770, dated April 29, 1884.

Application filed March 17, 1884. (Specimens) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JARVIS B. EDSON, a'citizen of the United States, residing at Adams, in the county of Berkshire and State of Masses chusetts, have invented new and useful Im-V provements in Finishing and Glossing the Surfaces of Fabrics having a Coating of Zylonite or other Pyroxyline Compound, of which the following is a specification.

, This invention relates to improvements on the Letters Patent No. 289,240, No. 289,242, and No. 290,553, issued to me, respectively, November 27, 1883, and December 18, 1883. In producing fabrics according to such patents, consisting of a base coated on one or both surfaces with a thin sheet or film of zylonite or other pyroxyline compound, I have found it desirable and sometimes essential to cheaply produce a glossy surface without injury to the indented or uneven surface or surfaces which the fabric may possess.

The object of the present invention is to finish the surface or surfaces of such fabric, and produce thereon an efficient, desirable, and satisfactory gloss, whether mounted on a base or not, and whether smooth or rough,thick or thin. I

To enable others skilled in the art to practice my invention, I will proceed to describe the same in detail.

I contemplate the employment of an exceedingly thin sheet of zylonite in long lengths, as produced according to the Letters Patent issued to me August 14}, 1883, No. 283,224, which sheets are to be manipulated and used in the arts substantially in the manner disclosed by the several patents hereinbefore alluded to. As these sheets are of long length and necessarily manipulated upon drums, I take advantage thereof and accomplish the glossing process while the sheet or sheets are 011 the drum, whenever such is practicable. The material to be glossed is intercepted as it leaves one of the rolls-preferably aheated one, to warm the fabricand is then directed from its course over an idler or roller located in a trough containing a suitable fluid acting as a solvent-such as alcoholthrough which the fabric is caused to pass. The zylonite, being h under tension, is conducted down into the trough and around the roller therein, which roller it closely envelops, as it were, thereby preventing the solvent from gaining access to and being unnecssarily' consumed upon the interior or the surface adjacent to the roller. The exterior, being the surface it is desired to gloss, is immersed in the solvent during-its passage around the roller, and emerges, after which it is allowed to dry by evaporation, thereby providing it with a glossy surface. The duration of immersion will be subject to control, and is dependent upon the diameter of the roller and the speed at which it revolves, as well as the quantity of solvent maintained in the trough. By this means itis possible to continuously treat one surface of the sheet fabricwithout so treating the other, 'and it is effected in a very economical manner. In glossing zylonite not mounted upon another substance or base it is even more imperative that no solvent gain access to the interior or opposite surface of the fabric, particularly when it only possesses the thickness of, say, four onethousandths or five one-thousandths parts of an inch, as contemplated in the patents mentioned, for the reason that in such thin form it would be almost immediately dissolved into a solution, and lose its characteristics or individuality as a sheeted substance. By regulating or controlling the speed to give an immersion of five seconds, I am enabled to obtain a continuous and uniform action of the solvent,

impossible to accomplish by any method here= tofore known to me. It is a flowing coat, as it were, and produced by the solvent acting to slightly dissolve the surface of the material by a surplus or excess of solvent, and such as is not held by the fabric automatically flows therefrom. I have obtained similar results by manipulating the fabric to produce a depression at one point, in which, as a pocket, a quantity of the solvent is maintained as the fabric moves along; but such method was not found as satisfactory, as it presented a greater surface from which evaporation and loss occurred, and for other reasons. Good results have also been obtained by supplying this fluid acting as a solvent in other ways-such as by a fountain, feeding-roller, &c.and afterward allowing the surplus to flow off, and so practice the invention, although less advantageously. To regulate the degree of gloss it is only necessary to reduce the duration of time of immersion or the strength of the solvcut.

I do not confine myself to glossin g the zylonite surface, or surface of the compound or completedfabric, but may practice the same simultaneously with the operation of uniting the sheets, or subsequently thereto, as a separate operation, or prior to such attaching of the sheets, as it will be obvious that the web or roll of the thin zylonite may first be glossed and afterward combined with the base to which it is attached. Nor do I confine myself to the glossing of fabrics having one or two surfaces of zylonite or other pyroxyline compound, as it is obvious the invention is equally valuable for glossing one or both surfaces of zylonite and kindred compounds in sheet or web form, for whatever purposes designed to be used.

The invention is especially useful where the fabric is to be manufactured into collars and cuffs, as in such the thin zylonite is forced into the weaveofthe fabric, to better resemble amus lin surface it is intended to imitate, and such surface is necessarily a rough one. To polish or finish such surface by abrasion would wear off or remm'e the muslin contour and appearance, which, therefore, is objectionable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The process herein described of continuously glossing sheeted zylonite or other pyroxyline compound, which consists in passing it through a fluid acting as a solvent to the coinpound,or carrying the same to it, as by a feedroller fountain metho,d,sufficiently to partially dissolve the surface of the sheet and leave the extreme surface in a flowing condition.

2. The process of producing a gloss upon sheeted zylonite or other pyroxyline compounds, which consists in passing the same through fluid acting as a solvent of the zylonite or similar material, and which, upon evaporation, leaves the desired glossy appearance.

3. The process herein described of glossing sheeted zylonite or other pyroxyline compound, which consists in subjecting one surface of the same to a solvent or a fluid acting as a solvent, without affecting the other surface.

4. The process of glossing sheeted zylonite or other pyroxyline compound, which consists in first heating the same, and then immersing it in a solvent, or otherwise, as described, and allowing it to dry by evaporation, substantially as described.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a fabric composed of a base coated on one or both surfaces with zylonite or other pyroxyline compound, and having its zylonite or similar surface glossed, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of 'two subscribing witnesses.

JARVIS B. EDSON.

\Vitnesses:

RUsL. B. DEAN, XV. N. BIXBY. 

